but I get nothing. It works on blogger. My desired result is this: http://sfist.com/2007/08/13/hey_whos_he_cal.php , where the killer little thumbnails pop up at the bottom of the video after the first has played. I can get individual videos to show just fine, the the playlist is stumping me.

You can't use any code provided by YouTube, especially the Playlist. The only thing you can post is a single video, and that's using the instructions provided by WordPress (not the YouTube-provided embed code). If you wish to have the Playlist feature added, you may make a request through Support. Don't expect it to be implemented anytime soon, though.

If you host your own blog somewhere else, such as at GoDaddy.com, then obviously you can use whatever embed code sites provide. Here at WordPress.com, we cannot use any code that includes SCRIPT, OBJECT or EMBED due to potential security problems.

In addition, it was "quite easy" on Blogger/BlogSpot because they allow those tags I mentioned. WordPress.com does not, so many things cannot be used. Also, Blogger allows advertisements and commercial usage, but WP.com doesn't. You cannot compare the two services as they are independent entities with their own rules.

The only way to get things 100% the way you want is to pay for the service -- as in subscribe to web hosting. Obviously you'd need to have some technical skills because support for things like that is limited to general forums elsewhere on the internet.

I have written books on this forum I tell ya -- books that all have the same chapters ... lol :D I have written them in baby speak and yet some still do not "get it". Then someone else will "play it again Sam" and the lightbulb moment will illuminate the thread. ;)